Cooking a revolution

A cooking school for Down’s Syndrome children has opened in a villa confiscated from the mafia.

Casa Mehari belonged to Camorra boss Nicola Imbriani but now the confiscated villa has become a cooking school where children with Down’s Syndrome can aspire to become chefs. Believing in the ‘Cooking a Revolution’ project is Michelin-starred chef, Gennaro Esposito, who had gathered the support of other colleagues to put together the necessary funds for the purchase of a professional kitchen.

The villa is in Naples, in the south of Italy where chef Gennaro has his own restaurant, the Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense near Sorrento. ”I am sure that this learning opportunity proposed for the children will be well received. Kitchens are places of inclusion where teamwork and mutual respect win out”, Gennaro told Ansa.

“A professional kitchen for young people has always been one of our dreams and today we have finally realised this goal “, said Maria Trapanese, of ‘La Bottega dei Semplici Pensieri’, a non-profit association set up by family members of people with Down’s Syndrome.

The inauguration of the cooking school was held on Wednesday April 3 and Gennaro told those present that, ”the kitchen is a magical place. A magic that, judging by the smiles and a few tears that escaped the boys at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, has already taken up residence in this place ready to christen the first chef trained at Casa Mehari”.